Did Abraham Lincoln Have Cancer Too?

President Lincoln was assassinated when he was just 56 years old in 1865. But one California doctor theorizes that Lincoln—who had lost a lot of weight before his death and complained of intense headaches and cold extremities—might not have lived much longer anyway.

Cardiologist John Sotos from the Baltimore, Maryland's Johns Hopkins Hospital said that Lincoln probably had a rare genetic syndrome, called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome type 2B [1] (MEN2B) that causes small, benign tumors to grow on victims' lips and inside their intestines.

MEN2B patients also exhibit Marfan Syndrome features, as did Lincoln, meaning that they tend to be tall and lanky, with unusually long limbs and fingers. Other symptoms consistent with this disease include Lincoln’s well-known history of constipation and facial asymmetries. The greatest challenge to this theory is that MEN2B causes cancer; in the last few months of his life, the President’s health had declined drastically (in a potentially cancer-like fashion)—but he still had survived to the relatively old age of 56.

Sotos claimed that these tell-tale bumps were clearly visible on his lips and surmised that tumors in Lincoln's gut could have caused his notorious problems with constipation. He analyzed 130 photographs and two plaster face masks of Lincoln, one in 1860 and the other in 1865, stored in the National Portrait Gallery. 

Leonard Volk completed this first mask in Chicago, Illinois, in April 1860.
Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome type 2B is indicated by bumps on his lips.

There is more evidence of this genetic disease; Two of Lincoln's sons had the same lip tumors and died at young ages. The problem with Sotos's theory is that people with MEN2B usually develop cancer in their 20s and die in their 30s.

MEN2B can only be confirmed or refuted through DNA sequencing. With Lincoln’s body encased in concrete and buried underground, this mystery might have gone unsolved. However, a limited amount of Lincoln’s DNA remains above ground. It might be extractable from multiple sources: his surgeon’s blood-stained shirt, a bloody pillowcase from his deathbed, and even skull fragments from his autopsy.

These are skull fragments from Lincoln's autopsy
and the probe used to locate the bullet.

However, concern about technical difficulties and the potential destruction of important historical artifacts have stalled these requests for now. Nevertheless, support for the project continues; the major argument is that confirmation of such diagnoses could bring much-needed public awareness and advocacy to rare diseases.

Perhaps one day, we’ll finally sequence Lincoln’s DNA and discover the truth about him. Maybe he did have a rare genetic disease. Or maybe he was just a tall, skinny man dealing with the everyday stresses of leading a nation. In the end, science may reveal that he had a normal bill of health, but history has already proved, without a doubt, that Abraham Lincoln was certainly far from ordinary.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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[1] Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome type 2B - A benign tumor of nerve tissue commonly found on the tongue, lips, or in the gastrointestinal tract. Mucosal neuromas are a characteristic feature of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B, a hereditary syndrome associated with the development of medullary thyroid cancer.

Abraham Lincoln Owned Two Parcels of Land in Iowa.

Abraham Lincoln owned two parcels of land in the state of Iowa but never visited either one. He received these tracts from the U.S. government for service as an Illinois volunteer in the Black Hawk War of 1832. It was not until the 1850s that Congress authorized land bounties to the war veterans. Lincoln received 40 acres following the act of September 28, 1850, and 120 acres after the act of March 3, 1855.

Lincoln could accept land from any U.S. land office, but instead of choosing sites in his home state of Illinois, he selected Iowa farmland as advised by Clifton H. Moore, an Illinois legal colleague who owned property in Tama and Crawford Counties. Moore acted as Lincoln's representative and paid his real estate taxes. Lincoln owned the land until his death in 1865 when it went to his widow and two surviving sons. There is no record that the land produced an income for the Lincolns. The land passed out of the family many years ago but is actively farmed today, producing traditional row crops such as corn and soybeans.

Tama County Land

The first parcel Lincoln received was 40 acres in Howard Township in Tama County. The warrant was issued to him on April 16, 1852. Two years later, Moore entered the land through John P. Davis of Dubuque, and the patent was dated June 1, 1855. After President Lincoln died, the interest in the property was divided evenly among his heirs.

In 1867 Clifton Moore wrote to Lincoln's son Robert, saying he had seen the land and its value was $10 per acre. On April 6, 1874, Mary Todd Lincoln deeded her interest in it to her son Robert for $100. Later that year, Robert and his wife sold the land to Adam Brecht for $500 ($12,000 today). The land was not recorded until June 15, 1916.

To visit the site, take Route 63 to 260th Street, about five miles north of Toledo, the county seat. Turn west on 260th Street and go about three miles to H Avenue and turn north. You will see a marker on the east side of the road. The legal description is the "N.W. 1/4 of the S.W. 1/4 Sec.20 T.84 R. 15 west" in Tama County.

Crawford County Land

Lincoln's second parcel was 120 acres in Goodrich Township, Crawford County. It is seven miles north of Denison and one mile east of Schleswig, identified by a marker erected in 1923 by the Denison Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Warrant #68645 was issued on April 22, 1856, and Lincoln located the land while living in Springfield, Illinois, on December 27, 1859.

The patent for the Crawford County tract was issued to Lincoln on September 10, 1860, during his first presidential campaign, and sent to the Registrar of the Land Office at Springfield on October 30, one week before the election. The property eventually passed to Lincoln's only surviving son Robert, who sold the property to Henry Edwards for $1,300 ($38,800 today) on March 22, 1892.

By Abraham Lincoln Online

Edited by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.